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Emissions from Montreal Protocol meetings offset

Thu, 21/04/16

For the second year running, the UNEP Ozone Secretariat has measured the carbon footprint of all operations and meetings held under the Montreal Protocol - and offset the full amount of greenhouse gases emitted - for 2015.

The Ozone Secretariat is the Secretariat for the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and for the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

Based at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) offices in Nairobi, Kenya, the Secretariat functions in accordance with Article 7 of the Vienna Convention and Article 12 of the Montreal Protocol.

The Secretariat has purchased an equivalent of 1,772 tons of carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas emissions associated with travels to the meetings and related operations in 2015, determined in accordance with the principles of the UN greenhouse gas inventory.

The Secretariat worked in collaboration with the UN Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat to determine the carbon footprint and purchase Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) from the Adaptation Fund, which finances projects and programmes to help developing countries adapt to the negative effects of climate change.

UNFCCC issued a certificate confirming the voluntary cancellation of 1,772 Adaptation Fund CERs from the Clean Development Mechanism for the purpose of compensating the unavoidable greenhouse gas emissions from the facility and travel operations of the Ozone Secretariat in 2015, while supporting mitigation and adaptation projects.

Most of the offset travel emissions were from meeting participants – Secretariat-funded and self-paying. The Secretariat offset the entire flight footprint to make the meetings climate-neutral. Secretariat staff travel accounted for about 5 per cent of total air travel emissions.

“The Montreal Protocol has significantly contributed to the mitigation of climate change by averting the emission of more than 135 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent into the atmosphere. Offsetting the carbon footprint of our meetings and operations complements this important contribution to the global fight against climate change,” said Tina Birmpili, Executive Secretary of the Ozone Secretariat.

The offset carbon footprint included emissions created by travels associated with meetings of the Open-Ended Working Group of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, all meetings of the Assessment Panels of the Protocol and the Secretariat’s facility and travel operations in 2015.

The emissions were measured using a web-based carbon calculator created by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).